NY Greek yogurt makers urged to apply for School Lunch Program

Thursday

Jul 31, 2014 at 12:52 PM

Greek yogurt is now a food included in the USDA's School Lunch Program.

Julie Sherwood

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin soliciting proposals on Aug. 7 from Greek yogurt makers seeking to provide Greek yogurt to schools. Greek yogurt is now a food included in the USDA’s School Lunch Program.The USDA is taking proposals from Greek yogurt makers in 12 states. U.S. Sen. Schumer stated in a release Thursday he urges makers in upstate New York to apply for the school lunch program. New York Greek yogurt producers include Alpina, Fage, Chobani, and Muller Quaker.Earlier this month, Schumer announced that Chobani and Upstate Niagara had been selected to provide Greek yogurt to seven different states for one month as part of the program. This is now the second time USDA is soliciting bids. The pilot program, which Schumer announced in early March, expanded the initial pilot to 12 states, including New York, Arizona, Idaho, Tennessee, California, Iowa, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, Vermont, Washington and Mississippi.The program will run from September 2014 to June 2015 and USDA will select one or multiple vendors to provide Greek yogurt.Schumer stated that following news in January that schools participating in an initial three-month Greek yogurt pilot had consumed 200,000 pounds and $300,000-worth of Greek yogurt, Schumer urged the USDA to expand this program to additional states. The goal is to permanently add “this high-nutrition and protein-rich food to the USDA School Lunch Program,” he stated.